MARKETING HAPPENS. SUBSCRIBE & STAY INFORMED!

main

Snapchat's strategy, is not like Facebook's "Go big or go home". It favors well developed markets in North America and Europe in so-called quality-over-quantity manner. It is branded as app for the young. After announcing it earnings in March, it became obvious the app is not as popular among young as Facebook. Well, its reach is still impressive, considering the fact the number of daily active users is eight times smaller compared to its Silicon Valley rival. How good is that?

Photo: Pixabay

As eMarketer’s findings suggest, 59 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds, 68 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 42 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds use Snapchat at least once per month each month throughout the year.

Facebook’s numbers for those age groups are 64 percent, 77 percent and 81 percent, respectively. Facebook has 1.3 billion daily active users while Snapchat has just an eighth (!) of that, which is 158 million.

Facebook-owned Instagram, is popular among young age groups too. But as Recode remarks, Snapchat has a much tighter hold on 12- to 17-year-old future consumers than Instagram— nearly four times as many! In that matter, let’s not forget Instagram has 400 million daily active users.

Facebook is a bit older than Snapchat and had plenty of time to pick up users of all ages. As Recode writes, the issue with Facebook and even Instagram and Twitter is that “your mom and your grandma are also on it, perhaps making it a less cool place to directly market to the youngs”. Moreover, Facebook has 33 percent of people 65 and over regularly using the app. On the contrary, Snapchat has under 2 percent of that demographic.

Where to begin when exploring the wide world of social media? We’ve got a comprehensive guide to help you get started.

Have you ever asked yourself how it all works with social media? Who are those people behind websites, ads and social media profiles, promoting the next collection of shoes to shop online, or the brands politely chatting with you every day?

If you’ve ever considered social media as a hobby, a full-time job, or an extension of your business, but you’re not sure where to start, stay tuned because we have prepared the essential SM starter pack!

BACK TO BASICS

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn nurture very strong relationships with other businesses and agencies in order to help them promote and advertise their services or products through these platforms to the end users and building one big digital ecosystem. So, how can an ordinary flower shop create a huge number of followers on Facebook page or have that lovely content on Instagram?

Well, we all had to start somewhere, right? So, let me begin with lesson one – start with the basics, and get familiar with the possibilities that these platforms provide.

All these SM networks have developed a great solution – platforms for business users, like Facebook for business, Instagram for business, LinkedIn for business and many more, which can help you to get started and guide you through the basics of advertising. And, most importantly, you can find the latest news and new features, like new generation of 360 or livestreaming videos, Dynamic or Canvas ads that we have today.

Also, don’t forget their blogs – Instagram blog and YouTube blog which are very useful when it comes to their own practices as well as best practices of other businesses, that can give you lots of awesome ideas to promote your business or brand.

BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE – BLOGS

Oh, those social media bloggers. We are in love with them too, because they work so passionately writing about latest social media trends, news, tips, opinions, reviews and data-backed information.

Written by agency ’geeks’, these blogs have plenty of interesting tips and tricks for social media and advertising.

Hubspot blog is one of my favourites – it is oriented on content marketing, CRM and sales. I’ve even subscribed to their newsletter, so that I can always be up-to-date with their freshest articles. Agora Pulse blog is also great when it comes to social media marketing tools, and Buffer Social blog provides great news and cases in SM and online marketing.

I often visit Social Media Today blog when I want to find out more about on social business and content marketing, WeRSM, a blog about social media platform news, or Socialmedia Examiner, which explains how to use social media to connect with customers and drive traffic. They are the leaders in this field, and thanks to them now you can really take advantage of social media.

Learning from someone’s achievements and mistakes and collecting valuable social media tips from them makes your path easier, so dig into Peg Fitzpatrick’s blog, or read about Danny Brown’s experiences with SM and marketing.

For those of you who considered taking a more serious approach to SM and your digital channels – you should definitely visit blogs with data-driven takes on social media strategies, content marketing, creativity, user behavior and metrics.

Socialmouths is a blog with where you can always pick up some valuable information about content marketing, and Convince and convert combines content marketing, social media, analytics, email and organic search. Also, Marketing insider group is a blog which connects content marketing with measurable results.

VIDEO LIBRARIES – SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE SHOW!

On a typical Friday evening you just want to watch series with a bunch of popcorns, right? Well, I dare you to turn off that new episode of your favorite show, and instead watch video tutorials on Lynda and learn new business, creative and tech skills from industry experts. Lynda really helped me a lot with figuring out not just SM, but all other spheres of digital marketing.

Familiar with worldwide known TED talks? Their mission to spread ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks about business, technology, design or global issues is building an online community of inspiring people eager to share their ideas and curious souls.

ONLINE COURSES & CERTIFICATES – VALIDATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE

When it comes to continuous learning, online courses and certificates are my biggest recommendation – taking these courses can enhance your knowledge and skills beneficial for your working career.

Social media courses on Coursera, Udemy and edX are just one of the hundreds of courses created by the world’s top educational institutions. The advantages of these online courses are huge – you can choose your favorite topics to learn, organize your lessons around your daily activities, test your knowledge and have a certificate from the best universities in the world. Coursera and edX provide free courses with a possibility to pay for an university certificate after the course, while Udemy requires a fee before you enroll.

Back when I began my SM exploring, I have also tried Dot Native and The ADBL free bootcamps for learning how to begin with building your social media and digital campaigns, so I gladly recommend that you give it a try. And, after you take the course, they provide you the certificate badge to add on your LinkedIn profile as proof of your knowledge.

Not so SM, but very useful to get a wider picture of digital for me was Google AdWords Certification. It helps you in learning how your small business can easily grow online with low budget investment, have more online visits, make more conversions and, most of all, with the right target audience rapidly become a leading star in online advertising.

Like Google Certification, Digital garage powered by Google also offers free courses which unites SM and online advertising, and can help you with growing your business or career. You can learn about Google Display and Search advertising, mobile ads, video promotion, and test yourself after every course. Passing these courses earn you a certification from Google and IAB Europe and you can add them to your CV and LinkedIn profile, too.

WEBINARS – FACE TO FACE

If you haven’t experienced the priceless value of webinars, now is the time! Webinar sessions are great because you can get answers to your questions in real time and they often turn into great discussions with the presenters. Social Media Today webinars or Content marketing institute webinars have interesting webinars about social media.

Some of my friends recommended that I try on-demand free Hootsuite webinar, and these 60-minute webinars with extraordinary speakers are an amazing way to adopt new directions of digital strategies in various industries. You can try it too and give us your feedback. 🙂

GOOD OLD BOOKS

Enjoying in good reads of the greatest names in this field can also help you see the other side of the coin. For example, I’d like to thank Joe Praveen Sequeira for writing a book Unleash the Power of Social Media Marketing, which introduced me some basic SM terms and strategies in a simplified and understandable language for a beginner.

Mark W. Schaefer’s Social Media Explained explains fundamental strategies of social media marketing, and Content Chemistry by Andy Crestodina can help you understand search engine optimization, social media and email marketing.

These are just some of the great books often recommended for beginners, as well as professionals eager to improve their game.

TREND NEWS – STAY INFORMED

While you’re making your first morning coffee and preparing yourself for reading a bunch of emails, catch a moment to read some of the best trending social media and tech news in Digital Trends, or if you’re more into tech, digital culture and entertainment content, try Mashable.

I also found Think with Google very interesting and useful when it comes to trends, research and behind-the-scenes looks at digital campaigns across various industries, platforms and audiences.

Covering the best insights and analysis, with trends in media, marketing, advertising and technology, it always amuses me to read Ads of the world, Ad week, Ad Age and Entrepreneur, which are great online sources for campaigns and digital strategies of global brands you most likely look up to.

WORKWORKWORK – WORKING ONLINE, BEST PRACTICE

As in the real world, so in digital ‘Theory is nothing without good practice’, so if you want to earn some extra money and yet upgrade your expertise and skills, you can always get a gig on Fiverr, the world’s largest marketplace for services. It’s recommended for beginners to test their skills, and also for freelancers who are not the 9 to 5 job types. If you are focused on creating a high-quality product as quickly as possible without advertising your service, Fiverr is great place for you.

TO CONCLUDE…

Still young but rapidly developing, social media demands constant learning and a steady pace with all new technologies that come along. You may be thinking ‘It’s easy for you’. Now, yes, but believe me, it was not. Lots of reading, exploring and learning were and are, as digital marketing grows, in front of me.

It may seem like you are beginning from scratch – just remember that it will be the hardest, but most valuable road you shall pass.

And, if you ever get on the crossroad and the path leads you to social media and digital in general, just remember that you have it all in one place right here in this blog.

Guess what: consumer attention span is becoming shorter and shorter. The results of UM’s latest research among social media users Wave 9 provides marketers with implications for their (often overseen) work.

How short’s our attention span?

Brands, wake up – and good luck with catching our attention

Global agency network UM has unveiled the results of the ninth annual survey on the habits of users of social media – Wave 9. The study’s message is pretty clear: consumer attention is becoming shorter and shorter, while consumer expectations of brands are at an all-time high. Covering a sample of over 52,000 respondents in 78 countries worldwide, data were used to investigate 20 emotional states of the consumer.

Retailer’s moments of truth in SEE

Wave 9 showed that the consumers’ feelings when purchasing products vary widely, depending on the context. For example, when researching new products online consumers have positive emotions, whereby the “expectation” is the primary feeling in Serbia (18 percent), while “interestingness” was the strongest feeling at that moment for consumers in Bulgaria (35 percent), Bosnia and Herzegovina (29 percent), Croatia (20 percent) and Macedonia (27 percent). In Bosnia and Herzegovina (21 percent), Bulgaria (22 percent), Macedonia (18 percent) and Serbia (17 percent) most people have the need to “learn something new”, while in Croatia, the need to “stay informed” (20 percent) is the primary one when researching a new product.

When these same consumers go for a weekly shopping, their primary emotion is “boredom” in Bosnia and Herzegovina (24 percent) and “relaxation” in Bulgaria (15 percent), Croatia (20 percent), Macedonia (30 percent) and Serbia (27 percent). Their greatest need at that moment is to “stay informed” (Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia) or “to have fun” (in Bulgaria and Macedonia). These needs are best met using social media channels, which almost 60 percent of consumers across the region see as the media that serve to “stay informed” or to “have fun”.

All the results of global research Wave for the SEE countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia, will be announced soon.

“With more than 25 million 360 photos and more than 1 million 360 videos posted on Facebook to date, there’s plenty of great content to discover in Facebook 360 for Gear VR.,” FAcebook wrote in a statement. “The app is a one-stop shop for catching up on what you may have missed from your friends and others you follow, diving into the 360 photos and videos you’ve saved, and finding something new to enjoy.”

Facebook’s newest product will allow users to post reactions to content, as well as save and share 360 photos and videos. According to Facebook, more social features are on the way for the app.

MM introduces a selection of the most read media, advertising and marketing stories from the past week, ended on 3 March. Sponsorships provide many opportunities for advertisers. How and why you may ask. We discussed the topic with Vanja Bzik, head of corporate communications at Allianz Croatia, who worked with the Croatian Paralympic Committee (HPO). Imago Ogilvy's "Wing of Love" returns and its creators made sure the love between the stork couple will be spread around the country. Moreover, McCann Belgrade created a new campaign for Halbank while Days of Communication announced the full conference programme.

Success of Paralympic athletes often stays overlooked. “The missing piece” (“Dio koji nedostaje”), Allianz Croatia and Croatian Paralympic Committee (HPO) joint project, went against the odds, broadened the audience of sports for persons with disabilities and provided opportunities for Paralympic athletes to tell their stories. We discussed the project, which was awarded as the third best sponsorship project in Europe in 2016, with Vanja Bzik, head of corporate communications at Allianz Croatia.

Multi-awarded campaign “Wing of Love” by Croatian advertising agency Imago Ogilvy for a water brand Jana got its continuation. Creators of the new campaign made sure the love will not stay only in the city of Slavonski Brod, as it will spread around the country.

In their latest announcement, Croatian advertising festival Days of Communication’s organisational team released the full programme of the festival. Peter Sunde, co-founder of The Pirate Bay, and Simon Cook, director of awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, will hit the stage at Lone Hotel in Rovinj.

National Geographic awarded the Serbian edition of the magazine with the “Best Edit” prize for its photo essay feature. Among all international editorials, Adria Media Group’s publication won the highest recognition for its “highest journalistic standards”

Inspired by a freshly designed bottle, Serbian water producer Knjaz Miloš rolled out a new TV spot titled “How to keep your pride” that takes viewers through the intimate moments of a family: the formation of the family tree, the joy of new family members, personal achievements and spending moments together.

Tomislav Presečki, who has over 15 years of experience in marketing and advertising, has been appointed as new McCann Zagreb managing director. He will work on business operations of the agency and will contribute to the development of the strategic and creative solutions.

The wait is over. Google, a YouTube parent company, launched YouTube TV and took on cable. YouTube TV is a paid subscription service that streams a bunch of premium broadcast and cable networks to your mobile device, tablet and computer.

Photo: Pixabay

After a year or so of rumours, YouTube unveiled an attack on entertainment industry with a live TV service. As of 1 March, YouTube YouTube confirmed how its channels will be bundled and priced. The new service will feature more than 40 providers including the big broadcast networks, ESPN, regional sports networks and dozens of popular cable networks. Skinny bundles, as Wired called them, will include only those channels you really want, at a price that is cheaper than traditional cable. “Meet YouTube TV. It’s live TV designed for the YouTube generation—those who want to watch what they want, when they want, how they want, without commitments,” wrote YouTube on its blog. For the time being, YouTube TV will be available only in US.

Serbian snack brand Plazma introduced its branded sticker pack on a popular instant messaging app Viber just a month ago. The brand reportedly attracted a large user-base and became one of the most successful brands in CEE on Viber.

In collaboration with the Belgrade-based advertising agency Communis DDB, Plazma and its sub-brand Bambi followed the trend and reached to its audience on messaging app Viber.
“The power of the brand, careful research and precise selection of messages, combined with joyful and fun stickers provided excellent results,” the agency wrote in a press release. “Score: 7 million stickers used in the messages in the first month. This way Plazma once more positioned itself as a leader and showed that the brands’ future lies in chatting.”

Instagrammers can now post multiple photos or videos at once. Precisely what Facebook, Instagram's parent company, has already done for some quite years now. As of 22 February, the app began letting users attach as many as ten pieces of content into one post.

“When uploading to your feed, you’ll see a new icon to select multiple photos and videos. It’s easy to control exactly how your post will look. You can tap and hold to change the order, apply a filter to everything at once or edit one by one,” the company wrote in a statement. “These posts have a single caption and are square-only for now. On your profile grid, you’ll notice the first photo or video of your post has a little icon, which means there’s more to see.”

WhatsApp, one of the most used messaging apps, introduced a new feature – status updates. The new version of status updates (an old one was also the app’s initial feature) is already available across Europe, and will likely roll out globally in the weeks soon.

When choosing between Instagram Stories, Snapchat and Facebook status updates, users will now be able to share their “feels” on WhatsApp. Launched this Monday, status update lets you share photos, videos, and GIFs with all your contacts at once. As WhatsApp recently redesigned its camera app, you can personalize media – with emoji, text, drawings and everything between. If it sounds and looks familiar, don’t worry. It certainly looks like Snapchat (or other rival apps)! When opening renewed Status tab, you can see updates from people in your WhatsApp address book. And like on rival platforms (Instagram, Snapchat), status updates expire after 24 hours.

“Starting today, we are rolling out an update to status, which allows you to share photos and videos with your friends and contacts on WhatsApp in an easy and secure way. Yes, even your status updates are end-to-end encrypted,” co-founder Jan Koum wrote in a statement. “Just like eight years ago when we first started WhatsApp, this new and improved status feature will let you keep your friends who use WhatsApp easily updated in a fun and simple way.”

As we’re all pretty familiar with, Facebook was auto-playing videos with the sound off. Yet, the most popular social network announced a series of changes regarding videos. From now on, video will auto-play with the sound on.

“After testing sound on in News Feed and hearing positive feedback, we’re slowly bringing it to more people. With this update, sound fades in and out as you scroll through videos in News Feed, bringing those videos to life,” said Dana Sittler, product manager, and Alex Li, engineering manager, in a statement. This raises one question: will captions still be important? Who knows. But what’s more important is the fact that sound just gained importance in your marketing efforts.

Furthermore, the upgrade also means vertical videos will now play full-screen with just one tap and users will be able to minimise a video and keep watching it while scrolling through News Feed. Lastly, it’s easier than ever to scroll through with the new progress bar.

MM is respectable Slovenian marketing publication and brand that realized that #marketing in Balkan needs a voice.
Every day we offer you up to date news, interviews and specialists opinions about marketing communications in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.